I Like It – I Like It a Lot
On the spur of the moment Dennis headed for Silver Bay yesterday, the 14th of September. Dennis helps his nephew in many ways being the “go for” fellow for Brett’s concrete business here in St. James. The schedule allowed for the whole concrete crew to head for Silver Bay to put in a concrete driveway for one of the workers, Tim. Free labor, but I am sure the materials were still quite expensive. Tim just happens to be Dennis’ son-in-law. Daughter Sue and Tim have lived in Silver Bay for many years, but employment is hard to come by. Tim comes here seasonally and works the “crete” business.
All that being said I decided to do a bit of fall cleaning, starting in the bathroom. With the stackable washer and dryer being in the bathroom, there is no shortage of lint and extra stuff from sorting laundry. As careful as we can be, it’s not surprising to find grass clippings caught in the clothes that needs laundry. With my long handles on the Swiffer Dusters I can wrangled my way behind the washer and under it. Dennis would be proud of me as I got the cover off of the ceiling exhaust fan as well as getting it back on. Didn’t even chip a fingernail.
The old bathroom with the tub
and toilet sill in place. To think the sink
was under the light fixture.
I feel I am the luckiest person in the world to have the nice bathroom I do have. Kevin totally redid the east end of our home in the late 1990s. It all started with me asking him to put a smaller sink into the existing bathroom. We had had enough of resting our arm on the edge of the sink while sitting on the toilet. Oh my gosh, it started a huge project that took many, many weekends. It was in the fall of the year and Dennis took advantage of a lot of weekend gun shows and left “stage right” to be out of the mix and mess.
Dennis and I both knew that this home of Stauffer Avenue was the last destination, God willing, for the two of us in regard to a home. I know I can speak for Dennis when I say that we had both experienced enough in life to know that the size of the home does not bring happiness. Is it large enough for huge family gatherings to sprawl out? Yes! The several times of the year that we enjoy sit down meals with family, brings total satisfaction to the people that count . . . Dennis and me. We have plans in place for such events. All furniture in our home can be slid to the side for the short time of a meal. The leaves on the table can be pulled out and no one needs to eat off plates balance on their laps. When that has happened in homes that we have visited, it never took away from the reason for the day: bringing family together to laugh, share and feel blessed that we could get together.
Tub on the left, toilet and washer and
dryer to the right. Just perfect.
Today, as I was in the throngs of cleaning the bathroom, I still marvel that I have the remodeled bathroom that we have. Kevin was thinking ahead to a time when going into the basement would be less than safe. The bathroom was completed with a higher toilet and a three foot door that would be large enough for a wheelchair or a walker with easy entry.
In the years of working as a real estate appraiser, I can’t recall how many older home, occupied by older people, I visited that had been updated. More times than not the update had not allowed for moving the washer and dryer to the first floor. Some of those updated bathrooms that I had viewed had not even allowed for enough room to put in a handicapped height stool. Gutting our area out from stem to stern allowed for all the ease of enjoying our home for a long time.
Little did Kevin or I realize I would be in need of all the amenities of this new bathroom within a few years. When I had both knees replaced there was no hardship to endure with mobility going in or out of the bathroom. Toting a walker for weeks on end, I was able to keep up with our laundry without breaking a sweat. When I say, “I like it, I like it a lot,” it is no exaggeration. Being comfortable in our home is the peace that passes all understanding. Being comfortable in our home that came about from having Kevin taking care in the tiniest degree of construction for all aspects of the remodel, priceless. Having said that, I know I could never totally trust hiring someone to take that much care to detail.
In sharing this story and others of mine, when I close with “In life, please remember to give and have no remembrance of it, or take and remember it always”, I will always remember what Kevin’s labor gave to our quality of life.